NEWS

ECONOMY | Jason Oliver, Singapore
Published: 10 Feb 10

| More

It's official: Singapore is getting cheaper

Okay, it's only by 0.4 percent, but latest figures show Singapore actually got cheaper in the last six months of 2009 as deflation hit.

The consumer price index (CPI) for general households during July-December 2009 fell by 0.4 percent compared to the same period in 2008, as opposed to a 0.8 percent increase in the first half of 2009. The CPI for the highest 20% income group dropped by 0.1 percent, 0.5 percent for the middle 60% income group, and 0.8 percent for the lowest 20% income group.

Overall, the 2009 inflation rate for general households was lower compared to 2008, at 0.2 percent from 6.5 percent. Higher costs of food and health care were cited as factors in last year's rise in the CPIs for all income groups, with higher accommodation costs also affecting CPI for the top 20% income group.

Cheaper petrol and holiday travel and lower electricity tariffs partially offset the price increases in 2009.

BY JASON OLIVER
Consumers resume credit bingeing
Singaporean consumers who survived the great recession have resumed binging on credit for that much needed iPhone or holiday overseas, according to latest figures released by the banks which show consumer loans will likely grow 13.3 % over 2010, ushering in a golden time for banks.
$1000 psf the “new normal” for condos
Barang Barang goes bust
Warren Buffet's 2ic praises Singapore in parable about America gone wrong
Foreign students biggest losers as government puts citizens first
TOP NEWS
Singapore Airlines promotes Western Australia
Singapore Airlines partners with TWA to fund marketing campaigns and promote inbound tourism to Western Australia.
DBS' Rajan Raju quits consumer banking head post
SingTel targets single-rate roaming network
Singapore to invest $44bln to double rail network
M1 offers 1Gbps plan and fixed voice service
ECONOMY NEWS
China Manufacturing PMI rebounded to 51.7 in August
Morgan Stanley believes the modest rally (from 51.2 in July) can be explained partly by seasonality.
China: Retail sales going up
Demand in the US accelerates
USD-SGD expected at 1.3450-1.3520 range
Singapore is world’s fourth largest forex centre
COMMENTS

No comments available.

Add your comment

Your Information
The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Your Comment
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.